Week 3

Well, we are now in week 3, which is our final week of language school. I have so much spanish grammar in my head, I think it might explode! But atleast I am learning a lot.

Last Thursday, a Mayan sacerdote, or priest, came and performed a traditional Mayan worship ceremonly for us at Casa Xelaju. It was very interesting. For an hour, he prayed to Mother Earth and Father Sky, over a fire he constructed out of sugar, candles, wood, incense, and liquor. Sometimes he spoke in Spanish, other times he spoke in his native language of Quiche. His prayers revolved around the restoration of shalom in the community and the world. They were prayers that I would easily pray and did pray along with him, the only difference being to whom he prayed.

On Friday we got up early and left at 7 in the morning to travel to el volcan de Chikabal. It is a volcanoe that erupted some years ago, and now is the location of a gorgeous lake. It is the location of one of Guatemalas last remaining cloud forests. It is illegal to swim in the lake, as it is a sacred mayan place. After a grueling (for some of us) hike, we made it to the top and had a gorgeous view of the lake. We then climbed down 600 stairs and hung out at the lake for awhile. While we were there, we saw some different groups of indigenous people worshipping at the lake.
Friday night, almost our entire group went out to a discoteca and danced the night away. It was great to see our profesores, Kim and Jose Hernandez dancing together. Afterwards, some of us went to another discoteca that had some sweet techno music, and strobe lights. It was a great opportunity to practice our new dance skills.

Saturday morning we got up early (again) and drove to some aguas calientes naturales. The hot springs were amazing! They were made on the side of a mountain in Quezaltenango. There were about 3 different pools of varying temperatures, and we enjoyed them! It was super relaxing.

Saturday night, most of us went to a partido de futbol (soccer game), between the Quetzaltenango Super Chivos, and the Municipal Diablos. It was quite the cultural experience. My host mother had warned us that we would learn lots of bad words at the futbol game, but I dont think I was ready for it. At the beginning of the game, the Super Chivo mascot beat up a piñata of a devil, and then went on to tie it to a fence and burn it. There were fireworks constantly. It was a blast. Unfortunately, neither team scored, so I cant joyously announce to your that my home team, the Super Chivos, won.

Yesterday, we got up at 7 am again and drove 3 and a half hours to the city of Chichicastenango. Also, it was our first time riding in a chicken bus! (very exciting, i can assure you...i actually felt safer in it than in the first class buses we normally take). We visited a catholic church there, which was built by the Spanish in the 1600s. They built it right on top of a Mayan sacred place. For this reason,the church has become a mixture of catholicism and traditional mayan religous practices. We then spent a few hours walking around their giant market.

As for today, we just got done with a lecture on liberation theology. It was very interesting (esp. since we all had some background on liberation theology from our latin american politics class). Our speaker, Henri, actually knew Monseñor Romero before he was martyred.

Our first paper for Whitworth was due today, and we have one in spanish due wednesday, so please pray that we are all able to work hard and manage our time well. Pray that our spanish improves rapidly, and that we wont worry about our upcoming homestays in Honduras.

Love you all!
Emily